


That damn honey jar

by Codango



Category: Akatsuki no Yona | Yona of the Dawn
Genre: Accidental Voyeurism, Bathing/Washing, Canon Compliant, Childhood Friends, F/M, Healing, Hiding, Masturbation, Mutual Masturbation, Pirates, Secret Crush, Seduction, Swimming
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2015-08-16
Updated: 2015-08-16
Packaged: 2018-04-15 00:21:23
Rating: Explicit
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 4,418
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/4585833
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Codango/pseuds/Codango
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>A trail of honey was about to disappear into her sleeve. He caught it with his tongue, licked up the inside of her wrist. Her pulse jumped under his tongue, and Hak closed his eyes, sucking at the heat. </p><p>Her hand trembled in his but didn’t pull away. “Um…?” Yona’s whisper was breathy, like she’d just raced up a hill. Or… an image blossomed in his mind of her looking up at him from wrinkled bedsheets. “Eh?”</p><p>Honey coated his lips, and Hak mouthed at the tender flesh on the side of her hand. He could feel the scrapes against his lips, taste the tang of her blood. He wanted her fingers in his mouth, wanted to taste each…</p>
            </blockquote>





	That damn honey jar

**Author's Note:**

  * Translation into Русский available: [Дурацкая банка мёда](https://archiveofourown.org/works/13495194) by [Poloz](https://archiveofourown.org/users/Poloz/pseuds/Poloz)



> Someone asked for a continuation of the honey scene in Chapter 32 (http://www.mangapanda.com/akatsuki-no-yona/32). I had a devil of a time coming up with something that might POSSIBLY be canon compliant... after all, Yona pretty much ran away! But here we go...

Hak stared at Jae-Ha’s face.

The green-haired dragon followed Yona closely up the last few steps of the narrow trail on the sea wall. His face… that obnoxious, womanizing, carefree pirate was pale as death. His eyes were glued to Yona’s back. As they drew closer, Hak realized they were both soaked.

Hak bit the insides of his cheeks and hung back as Yoon, Kija, and Shin-Ah raced toward the princess. “Yona!” Yoon cried. “Geez, you idiot, that was too much!”

Her eyes were red. Any fool could see that much, even as she chattered happily and showed the captain the herbs she’d collected. Pretending to be pleased with her success and not still scared out of her mind by the wind and waves raging against the cliffs.

As if her trembling hands weren’t enough to make Hak’s blood boil. Jae-Ha’s face couldn’t have screamed much louder that Hak had come close to losing the princess forever. _Look at him._ The dragon was staring at her as though she’d shatter at any moment.

As Captain Gi-Gan congratulated Yona on completing her ( _unnecessary! murderous! sadistic!_ ) test, Yona was all but swept back to the pirates’ cove amid cheers from the crew and tearful threats from Yoon.

Hak released his pent-up breath in an explosive sigh. He wiped a hand over his face. _I need a drink. I need five drinks. And I need to not look at Yona for a while._ Maybe his heart would settle back to a normal pace in, oh, a week.

“Mm? You must be pretty close to her to make that kind of face.”

 _Dragon._ Hak glared at Jae-Ha. The man seemed to have recovered from his own stress annoyingly well. _Smug-ass grin._ “Yeah? What about you?” he retorted. “You only look like you’ve aged ten years.”

Surprise flashed across the pirate’s face, and he raised a hand to his cheek. But in the next instant, he shrugged. “She is a first,” Jae-Ha said flippantly. “I can’t imagine what it’s like for the guy who guards her.” He shot a meaningful glance at Hak.

 _You don’t know the half of it._ “Heh. Well, it’s not that bad.”

Jae-Ha peered at him. “She’s very special to you, isn’t she?”

Hak eyed him suspiciously. “Well,” he began slowly, “she’s my childhood friend…”

“Your lover?”

Hak froze. Jae-Ha regarded him with a smile that was hardly innocent. _I haven’t… there wasn’t any… he couldn’t have…_ “No way.” Hak found his voice. “She’s an important person I’ve been entrusted with.”

And as he spoke the words, he grinned. Because all he really wanted was to make sure Yona was alive and happy. _And that will always be enough, and you are lucky that’s what you’ve been given to do._

Jae-Ha put a knuckle to his lips. Smiled dubiously. “‘Entrusted with?’ I see.”

 _How do I let this guy get under my skin every goddamn time._ “What?” Hak asked flatly.

“Well, somehow… at a very quick glance… I get the impression that she and you seem close…” Jae-Ha cocked his head. “... and yet far away at the same time.”

Hak narrowed his eyes. “Huh?”

“By that, I don’t get the impression you genuinely desire her.” Jae-Ha’s expression held a cool challenge.

“Oh? That’s bold.” Hak crossed his arms. “Why do you say that?” _Why do you rise to the bait?! The man all but gave you an end to the conversation, what are you DOING? Just agree, why can’t you?_

Jae-Ha turned to walk away but paused. “It might be because I’ve taken an interest in her.”

Hak felt the blood rush through his ears as he stared at the dragon. _An interest… This fucking DRAGON —? With YONA?_

Jae-Ha leaned in close. “Kidding.”

Hak’s jaw dropped.

“I’d rather not be with the master of the four dragons.” Jae-Ha walked away with a wave of his hand. “Your face just now was funny,” he tossed over his shoulder.

Hak glared after him. The green dragon’s words taunted him in his head. _“I don’t think you genuinely desire her.”_

“The hell do you know?” But Hak fell deep into his own thoughts on the path back to the hidden cove where the pirates had moored their ship.

 _I’ve only ever wanted… she was supposed to rule alongside Soo-Won._ Hak clenched his fists at his sides. _And I was just going to be there below them. Next to them. We were going to stay that way forever._

 _You’re an idiot._ He kicked a pebble, watched it tumble up the path. _You know better than to dream._

_You used to dream all the time._

_But I wasn’t ever going to do anything about it!_

_You used to dream she was yours. That she wanted you._

_Not since I was fifteen, you’re an idiot._

_Okay, so you haven’t outright…_ indulged _in your fantasies since then. But you never quite got them out of your head._

Hak felt his face go up in flames. _That will never be what my life is. I knew that years ago._

The pirates’ camp was a calm bustle of activity, everyone handling their own nightly chores as the late afternoon sun grew rosier. Hak picked his way around boxes of supplies and pirates organizing cargo.

_I just need that girl…_

He caught a flash of red at the edge of the camp.

_… that precious princess, that His Majesty left behind…_

His feet brought him closer to where she knelt, her back to him.

_I just need her to be happy. Nothing more than this…_

Yona must have heard his approach. She looked over her shoulder, and Hak felt a punch in his gut at the sight of her eyes filled with tears.

He swallowed hard. “What are you crying about?” As usual, his voice came out rougher than he intended.

Yona held her hands gingerly in her lap. “Nothing,” she whimpered.

 _Uh huh._ Hak knelt in front of her and pulled her hands close for a better look.

She shrieked in protest. “Ow, ow, ow —!”

 _Good lord._ It had been a while since he’d seen hands as mangled as these. They’d been his, and he’d been twelve. Bloody scrapes covered the pads of every finger, the entirety of both palms. “What the hell did you do to yourself?”

“When I went to pick the sonjusou,” Yona gulped, “a lot of the thorns stabbed me. I… I heard I could get them out with a needle.”

Hak tried not to tighten his grip on her hands. “And you’ve been gouging at your hands with a needle.”

Fresh tears ran down her cheeks. “It hurts really bad, but I c-can’t get them… out!” she sobbed.

He stared at her. Red cheeks, hair tangled from wind and frustration, tiny body shaking from hands that no doubt stung like mad. He felt fifteen again; transfixed at his princess’ capacity for jumping into something horrible, amazed at her attempts to get herself out of trouble, and exasperated at her lack of common sense.

“Did you heat the needle over a fire?” he asked, turning her hands over in his.

Yona sniffled. “N-no. Is that important?” Tears clung to her lashes.

 _I am going to hell._ “This is bad.” Hak leaned closer. “Your wounds are all infected now, and tomorrow your hands will fall off.”

Fright flooded her face. “Whhhhhaaaaatt?!”

Hak tried to bite his lip, but _fuck_ teasing this girl was so damn fun. He gave in, let himself laugh full in her face.

Fear was replaced instantly by familiar annoyance. _God, I love that._

Yona rose on her knees, aiming a huge sailcloth needle at his face. “I’m gonna stab you,” she gritted, her voice low and murderous.

Hak grabbed her wrists, holding her away from him easily. “Now, now, princess. Let’s get those wounds clean.”

Yona glared at him but sat back on her heels. “Ugh.” She looked at her hands. No doubt they were throbbing by now.

Hak glanced around and caught sight of Yoon’s medicine bag tucked carefully away from the camp’s heaviest traffic. “Where’s Yoon?”

“He’s helping make dinner.” Yona watched as Hak walked over to the bag. “Hak! He’ll get mad if you go through his bag without permission!”

 _That mother bear would be incensed that I_ didn’t i _f he could see this girl’s hands._ “It’s an emergency. Can’t be helped. Ah.” Hak grabbed a particular jar and walked back to kneel in front of Yona once again.

“Honey?” she queried.

Hak took one hand gently in his own and tilted the jar over the wounded palm.

“Eh?!” Yona instinctively jerked her hand back, but Hak held it fast. “What are you doing?”

“Leave this on your hands for a while,” Hak said, concentrating on covering the scratches with a thin layer of honey. “The thorns will come out on their own.”

“Really?” Yona watched the translucent gold spread over her palm. Hak could feel the tension leave her as the syrup settled into the cuts, soothing the stings immediately.

“In the past, Gramps took my splinters out with needles a lot. I learned what murderous intent was when I figured out the honey thing.” _You’ve never held her hands this long before._ He ran his thumb along the edge of her fingers. He doubted she noticed.

Yona laughed. “That sounds like Mundok-san.”

His breath caught in his throat. _Get it together._ “But for someone to cry over these little cuts, I just don’t know…”

“Shut up!” she protested.

He reached for her other hand and let the honey dribble from her fingertips to her wrist. Yoon would have a fit that his supply was nearly gone, but such was life. “Really,” Hak muttered. “What were you gaining from this, Princess?”

Yona glanced up at him, her cheeks still streaked from crying. “I… became a little stronger?” She smiled then. “I wonder. Did I become a little closer to you, Hak?”

Her eyes were warm and bright, and a welcoming smile, with a hint of tease, played at her lips.

_“I don’t get the impression… you genuinely desire her.”_

The green dragon’s taunt rolled through Hak’s brain. He stared at his redhaired princess, his master’s daughter, the woman he’d follow all over Kouka Kingdom if she wanted him to.

“Shut up, droopy eyes,” he mumbled to himself.

He watched her cock her head, confused. Her gold tassel earrings brushed her delicate neck in the sea breeze. Yona’s hands shifted in his, and the warmth of her skin sent heat to his chest. _Fuck. Fuck this. I’ve destroyed every impulse for her. Thousands of times. I’ve made sure I’d never reach for her… how can she sit there and smile at me. Are you closer to me?_ His fingers tested the curve of her wrist. _You can never be closer. I can’t let you. God, I want —_

“Ah! Hak!” Yona’s eyes widened at her hands. “The honey! It’s dripping everywhere!”

“Hm? Oh.”

It was the most natural thing.

He brought her hand to his lips.

A trail of honey was about to disappear into her sleeve. He caught it with his tongue, licked up the inside of her wrist. Her pulse jumped under his tongue, and Hak closed his eyes, sucking at the heat.

Her hand trembled in his but didn’t pull away. “Um…?” Yona’s whisper was breathy, like she’d just raced up a hill. _Or…_ an image blossomed in his mind of her looking up at him from wrinkled bedsheets. “Eh?”

Honey coated his lips, and Hak mouthed at the tender flesh on the side of her hand. He could feel the scrapes against his lips, taste the tang of her blood. He wanted her fingers in his mouth, wanted to taste each…

“Hak!”

His eyes flew open, his brain doused in the ice water of Yona calling his name sharply.

Her face was red, her brow furrowed. He’d never seen her eyes so bright. Her lower lip quivered, and he wondered what words were piling up in her mind right now.

“I… I’m fine… now,” Yona whispered, staring at him. “That’s enough.”

Hak watched as she all but ran away from him.

 _That’s enough._ He looked down at his hands as though he’d never seen them before. “What… am I _doing_?”

* * *

 

Yona wasn’t exactly sure where she was going. It did seem that her feet had no intention of slowing down.

“Yona?”

She glanced up. Yoon was tending a simmering pot over a tidy campfire. “Yona, is everything okay?”

“Yoon.” _I must look…_ “Is our tent set up?” _Alone. Get me alone, now! Hak… what…_

Yoon stood quickly, dropping the spoon in the stew. “We’re staying on the ship tonight. Captain’s invitation. Are you all right?”

_No! No, I am not all right, I’m going to —_

The boy approached her, worried. “Is there anything I can do, Yona?”

“I just…” _Will you get it together? You are the princess of Kouka Kingdom, please have some control!_ Yona squared her shoulders. “I’m afraid the day’s events are wearing on me.” Her voice trembled, but whatever, that fit, right? “Is there anywhere I can be alone?”

Yoon chewed his lip. “Ships aren’t exactly known for their privacy…” He glanced around. “Oi! You!”

A nearby pirate nearly dropped a crate on his foot. “Y-Yoon?”

“Make sure this doesn’t boil over. I’ll be back in two minutes, and _I’ll know_ if it overheated.” The young cook tugged at Yona’s sleeve. “C’mon, let’s go find the captain.”

Captain Gi-Gan was studying a map in her cabin. “Privacy?” the gray-haired woman repeated. “With this lot?”

“We wouldn’t ask if it weren’t —” But the captain waved Yoon to silence.

Yona clenched her jaw, willing her lip to keep from trembling. Her hands were still sticky, and she held them behind her back.

Captain Gi-Gan watched her with a knowing smirk. “The day finally got to you, did it?” She walked over to a cabinet and pulled out a covered basket. “Come on, little one. I’ve got just the thing.”

Yoon made to follow them out of the cabin, but the captain put a hand on his shoulder. “Ladies only, young man. Weren’t you bragging about a stew earlier?”

Yoon slapped his forehead. “My bouillabaisse!” And he raced out of the cabin to rescue the pot he’d left in unskilled hands.

Captain Gi-Gan held the basket out to Yona, sharp eyes taking in the state of her hands. “Honey, huh? Well done. You’ll be good as new in no time.”

Yona followed the older woman in silence. Across the gangplank, through the friendly heckles of the crew, down a path. Yona raised her eyebrows as she realized the captain was leading her to the rocky beach below.

They walked along the rough beach for a few minutes. Yona felt her shoulders relaxing as the camp’s noise above turned to a dull roar, mixing pleasantly with the sound of gentle waves at her feet.

“Here we are.”

Yona peered around the captain, and her jaw dropped. She’d never have found the inlet on her own, hidden as it was behind a couple of man-sized boulders. Sun-dappled sea water played over a shallow pool. Rock gave way to a sandy floor, and Yona found herself slipping her shoes off.

“We call this the captain’s bath.” Captain Gi-Gan favored Yona with a small smile. “My men know not to come here. Ever.” She turned and began walking back up the path, puffing at her pipe. “Sundown’s in two hours. I suggest you find your way back before then.”

_Two hours._

Yona let out a sigh at the thought. She hadn’t been alone for two hours in… she couldn’t even imagine how long.

It was getting easier every day to step out of her clothes outside. Yona folded her skirt and robe neatly on a dry rock. Tested the pool with a toe and was pleased to find it warm from baking in the sun all day.

She knelt on the sandy floor, waist deep in the tide pool, and uncovered the captain’s basket. “Ohhh…” Tiny bottles of shampoo, soap, oil… a scrubbing cloth. A dry towel. “Mmm.” Yona could feel a smile tugging at her mouth.

Hair lathered and soap covering every inch of her body, Yona leaned back against a smooth-enough boulder. _Almost… normal._ The warm water lapped against her waist, and her breasts were just the right side of uncomfortably cool with the sea breeze.

She lifted a hand and inspected it idly. No traces of blood anymore. She wasn’t certain how long the honey had needed to stay on to fully do its job, but at least the scratches no longer looked angry and swollen. A few splinters were still visible here and there.

_I wonder if Hak felt them._

Yona swallowed. Had her hands felt rough? When he… his lips had been all over them. Yona eyed her wrist. Ran her fingers gently over the soft skin. At least this was smooth. Her entire hand had felt like this just a few months ago. The way a princess’ hands should be.

Heat crept up her chest. Hak hadn’t seemed to mind the callouses. The scratches. In fact, he’d looked for all the world like he… had enjoyed her skin on his lips.

She brought her wrist up to her mouth. Sucked at her pressure point experimentally. Her heart retained its steady beat; no electricity leaped in her veins like… like before.

Yona closed her eyes, willing that feeling back to the surface, if only to analyze it. Hak’s tongue had been pink. That shouldn’t surprise her. His breaths had come shallow. His breath had been hot, and the honey had soaked up the warmth in a way that coated her entire hand.

She remembered how he’d moved his attention to her fingertips and how she couldn’t bear it. The heat, the suckling on her skin, the closeness of all of him, the noises he’d been making… Yona brought a hand to her cheek, her little finger sneaking into the corner of her mouth.

A wild splash made her eyes fly open. Yona pulled herself up behind the large boulders at the front of the inlet, trying her best to make no sound.

_Hak?!_

His stroke was strong as he swam through the narrow bay. Long, muscled arms pulled him effortlessly toward a rocky shore just opposite of Yona’s hiding place.

 _Shit. Shit! What am I going to do if he finds me?_ Yona flushed, double-checking that the boulders covered her well. First, he’d turn his back. Next, he’d find the perfect phrase to make her feel like he was her babysitter.

Yona frowned. The idea was somewhat less than flattering.

Hak stopped swimming, letting himself bob in the shallow waves as he glanced around. He tossed his black hair out of his eyes. Yona was close enough to see droplets arc through the air. And roll down his neck.

She’d seen him shirtless several times. Granted, he tended to be gravely injured on those occasions, but still. It wasn’t like she didn’t know what was hiding underneath that blue robe. Yona settled into a more comfortable position.

 _God, he has scars everywhere._ They crisscrossed his back. _How many has he got?_ Her heart sank a bit. _How many are because of me?_

She glanced down at her hands. No wonder he’d laughed at her scratches. Yona clenched her jaw. Next time, no matter how badly she was hurt, she’d take care of herself. _Well. I won’t cry, at least!_

She looked back up through the crack between the boulders. Her eyes went wide.

Hak had pulled himself into the shallows. He was sitting waist deep in water, elbows propped up on his knees, facing her. He looked comfortable. And very naked.

Yona felt heat sweep from her chest to the crown of her head.

His shoulders were massive. Not that she hadn’t known that. His upper body had always been kind of incredible. It was one of the main reasons she’d made him stop carrying her piggyback when he was sixteen. Yona bit her lip. She’d felt disloyal to Soo-Won for enjoying her bodyguard’s shoulders so much.

She glanced around her sheltered inlet, a little embarrassed. _There is absolutely no one here. No one is ever going to know. Hak can’t even see you._

Yona had never seen his bare legs before. They were pale but _god. You could break firewood in half on those thighs._ She bit her tongue.

Hak ran a hand through his hair. Yona could hear his exasperated sigh echo through the small cove. His hand fell to his neck, rubbed at a scar that ran from the groove of his shoulder to the top his chest.

He leaned back on one hand and stretched one leg out straight in front of him. His free hand traced the scar delicately. Scooped up some salt water and let the drops fall over his chest, down his abs, till they merged back in with the sea.

Yona gulped, watching his chest rise and fall. She reached one hand up to the boulder that hid her. The other rested flat against her own chest. _I wonder if those scars feel different from the rest of his skin?_

As though he read her mind, Hak ran his fingers slowly over his chest, testing a mark here, an old wound there. Fingertips grazed sculpted abs, up and then down, almost lazily. He let his head fall back, and Yona sighed quietly. His neck was corded and sturdy and _I want to bite it._ She blinked. _… Why?_

Hak’s hand disappeared below the water, and Yona watched as his eyes slid shut. His lips parted.

Yona’s hand flew to her mouth. _Oh my god._

She’d heard about this. Her face burned. _You should really_ really _stop watching. Now. Stop now._ A true princess would give her people privacy. Would be _understanding_ that everyone has… needs…

Hak’s arm moved slowly, his hand tugging gently under water. Yona watched his chest rise and fall with deep, slow breaths. She chewed on a knuckle.

She could hear him now. He was only a few dozen yards away from her, and every once in a while, she definitely heard… something over the breeze. More than a sigh, less than anything else.

Yona raised herself to her knees, pressing her breasts against the cool rock. The sudden draft where once had been warm water made her breath catch, but she didn’t look away.

Hak’s jaw was clenched, and he brought one knee tight up to his chest. His scarred abs contracted, and Yona could just make out the sharp V of the muscle at his hips above the water.

 _Oh. Oh my._ Steadying herself against the rock with one hand, Yona traced her own hip with light fingers. He looked positively carved from stone, and she was still as soft and round as the day she’d left the palace. She glanced down at her small chest… well. Perhaps a little less round, now that her life wasn’t quite so pampered.

A short groan brought her head up quickly. Yona’s mouth fell open.

Hak had lowered himself back on an elbow, his head tilted to one side, brow furrowed. She could see his hand, could see him stroking himself, and a shiver ran from her chest to her knees.

He was long and hard and dark, and she’d never…

Her hand slid from her hip to the warmth between her thighs. She felt wide and aching, and her hand moved with even less thought than on her most curious nights alone.

Hak stroked down hard and held, his cock curving back to his chest.

One finger fit inside her too easily. Two, and Yona gasped, brushing against pulsing heat.

His head fell back with another long stroke, his neck exposed, his back arched.

Her knees spread apart in the forgiving sand, and the water lapped at her sex in unpredictable rhythm. Nipples scraped deliciously against smooth rock.

She heard him come. He cut off a choked moan with his own hand, and she watched him shudder.

_I want…_

She spread herself with two fingers, a third finding her clitoris.

_I… I want…_

He was collapsed half on the beach, half in the water, chest heaving.

Yona brought her wrist to her mouth, licked the soft skin, bit. A hard finger against her, hard and fast, again, _Hak…!_

And she fell against the boulder that hid her, sex contracting around nothing.

She wasn’t certain when she opened her eyes, but he lay on the beach, an arm over his face. Yona rested her cheek against the rock, willing it to cool her down. Hak’s breathing was slowing, until he could have been sleeping for all she knew.

He startled her when he sat up. Propped an elbow on a bent knee and watched the sun sink lower.

 _How can he move?_ She felt spent.

Hak stood, and her breath left her. Soaking hair, hard shoulders, narrow hips, long legs. When exactly had he grown into… that?

He waded back into the bay, stretched out into a front stroke.

 _No, stay with me like this._ Yona nearly choked at the thought. There was no “staying.” There was no “like this.” _You watched him, and he thought he was alone. He would never —_

Her entire being went cold.

What if… what if he had been the one watching?

Yona sat down hard in the warm pool.

What if she had been the one who thought she was alone?

Her face flushed.

Would he have stayed?

She covered her face with hot palms.

Would he have been appalled?

What if she could never look at him again without turning bright red?

What if she saw him every night in her dreams?

_How could she ever look at a jar of honey again in her life?_

Yona slapped both cheeks. Skin on fire, she stepped out of the pool. Grabbed the towel from Captain Gi-Gan’s basket. She dressed carefully, wiping sand from her feet.

The day had been entirely too strange.

No wonder she was so wound up, when you thought about it.

Nearly dying would do that to a person, surely.

She gathered up the captain’s bathing things into the basket. She would take her time walking back to camp.

With any luck, daylight would be gone, and Hak wouldn’t be able to see how he had _entirely ruined_ their relationship with that damn honey jar.

**Author's Note:**

> [@codango](http://codango.tumblr.com/) on Tumblr
> 
> [Marcella Christie](http://marcellachristie.com/) for my alter ego


End file.
